Texas Longhorns Officially Sign Two International Prospects

With Sean Miller's first season leading the Texas Longhorns basketball program quickly approaching and excitement brewing with the program's new chapter, Miller has gone to work constructing the roster for his upcoming season. Retaining key players, bringing in players from the transfer portal, and now signing a pair of international prospects who have signed with the Longhorns for the upcoming 2025-26 season.

As Miller announced on Wednesday, the Longhorns signed center Lewis Obiorah, who last year played at Barking Abbey Basketball Academy in London, and forward Declan Duru Jr., who spent the last five years with Real Madrid in the program's youth development system in Spain. Both will join the Longhorns roster as true freshman in the upcoming season.

Obiorah adds another 7-foot-tall big man to Miller's squad. The London, England native is widely seen as more of a developmental piece; however, the English prospect has plenty of potential with a 7 feet, 1 inch frame. And Duru, a 6'9 forward originally from Munich, Germany, adds more size and depth to Miller's forward rotation.

What the Future Holds for New Texas Signees

As soon as Sean Miller arrived in Austin, he talked about the importance of his vision of the Longhorns program in regards to recruiting some of the top prospects overseas in his introductory press conference.

"It's going to be a combination of the transfer portal, recruiting the very best high school players, having a great feel for international recruiting." Miller said.

And with the signings of Obiorah and Duru, Miller has done just that, adding players who have been impact players for both their programs abroad and their country.

Obiorah was the EABL championship finals MVP honors while leading Barking Abbey to the EABL championship last year, while averaging 10.7 points, 9.6 rebounds, and 3.7 blocks per game. The center is also competing in international basketball by representing Great Britain at the FIBA U20 EuroBasket Championship Division B.

And Duru, who in just seven games was able to contribute to Real Madrid U19 in 2024-25 by averaging 12.0 points and 5.4 rebounds in 25.0 minutes per game. Duru showed flashes of what he could develop into in helping Germany earn a silver medal at the FIBA U19 World Cup by reaching double figures in scoring in six of the seven games, and averaged 11.4 points and 5.1 rebounds in 28.6 minutes.

Both Obiorah and Duru will have an uphill climb to start contributing to the Longhorns program right away, especially with the depth Miller brought onto the team from the transfer portal at the frontcourt positions. With the likes of Xavier transfer Lassina Traore and Florida Atlantic transfer, the AAC's freshmen of the year, Matas Vokietaitis, both project to be Miller's starters in the frontcourt.

However, with time to develop in Miller's system, both international products could be key pieces of the Longhorns' rotation in the future and strengthen Texas' international recruiting further.